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Pssht, it's not important to convince your kids that Santa exists. For maximum control, you need to convince them that KRAMPUS exists.

I also used to leave my nephew a present from "Willy the One-eyed Elf" every year. He finally got the joke when he was about fifteen and I must say, the prank was well worth the wait.

I tip my hat to that long-con. Well done.

__________________'A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggardly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave, a whoreson, glass-gazing, superservicable, finical rogue;... the son and heir of a mongral bitch: one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition."'
-The Bard

Personally I think the Santa Claus story is an excellent way of training kids to be sceptical. They work it out eventually, and can then apply the same reasoning process to other myths. I always say I stopped believing in god shortly after I stopped believing in Father Christmas, and for exactly the same reason.

That's a stretch though. I can think of better ways of teaching skepticism than a several years long lesson of buying expensive presents that I can't even take credit for giving.

That's a stretch though. I can think of better ways of teaching skepticism than a several years long lesson of buying expensive presents that I can't even take credit for giving.

That's the thing, though. As a parent you "get credit" any time your kid is happy or doing well. Even if they are thanking someone else. When one of their teachers makes their day, you get a good day, too. Nothing makes me happier than my kid being happy. It's a weird thing, really.

A colleague once told me of a Christmas where they gave his kids all the presents they'd got them and told them they were from Father Christmas, and then the kids opened all their other presents which had labels saying they were from Aunty Sylvia, or whoever. Naturally the kids then wanted to know why their cheapskate parents hadn't also bought them presents.

__________________"If you trust in yourself ... and believe in your dreams ... and follow your star ... you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things" - Terry Pratchett

A colleague once told me of a Christmas where they gave his kids all the presents they'd got them and told them they were from Father Christmas, and then the kids opened all their other presents which had labels saying they were from Aunty Sylvia, or whoever. Naturally the kids then wanted to know why their cheapskate parents hadn't also bought them presents.

Loss Leader's dad had the perfect response, if you'll allow some slight editing:

My parents always divided the presents into two groups: half were from Santa and half were from them.

I remember conducting an experiment to determine if the Tooth Fairy existed. I lost a tooth without telling my parents, and then put it under my pillow to see if I would still get money. From that result I extrapolated everyone else.

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